Madonna and Guy Ritchie 'to divorce'

Madonna and Guy Ritchie are to divorce before Christmas, according to reports.

Madonna, 50, and her husband Guy Ritchie, the film director, want the divorce finalised before December because they "can't bear to live with the pretence any longer", according to sources.

"It's very sad. They were a great couple and brilliant parents. They just couldn't live together any more," a source told The Sun.

"When Madonna first moved to the UK, she loved the idea of becoming an English rose. But slowly it turned sour. She decided she hated hunting and quickly dropped her 'hobby' of going for a pint of bitter with Guy in the local pub."

Friends of the 50-year-old singer told the paper: "Despite huge attempts to patch things up they both knew deep down that divorce was on the cards. It wasn't a matter of 'if' but 'when'."

The paper says the decision was taken after a series of arguments around Mr Ritchie's 40th birthday last month. Madonna had wanted to wait until next year to announce their separation, after her Sticky and Sweet global tour finished.

A statement confirming their marriage is over has been prepared and is to be released imminently.

Mr Ritchie has allegedly flown back from France, postponing filming of his new movie Sherlock Holmes, to tell his parents.

The couple have spent most of their married life in London, sharing a £7 million home close to Oxford Street with their children - Lourdes, 11, Rocco, seven, and David, two. Madonna adopted David from a Malawian orphanage in 2006, and was granted permanent custody of the little boy only last month. Lourdes is the singer's daughter by Carlos Leon, her former fitness instructor.